229: Severn Trent sells property investment arm

Navigation trail: / latestnews / archive / 229 - published: 07-11-06

LONDON (Reuters) - Severn Trent (SVT.L: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Monday it had sold its property investment arm and other property interests to Prologis Development Ltd for 71.7 million pounds cash.

The Birmingham-based company, which is slimming down the business to focus on its core water activities, said in a statement that it had made an aggregate profit of around 35 million pounds from the deal.

The Severn Trent Property division comprised around 500 acres of development land in distribution and logistic hubs across the Midlands.

"The transaction announced today is in line with our stated intention to focus on water," Severn Trent Chief Executive Colin Matthews said.

In September, it said it was selling its U.S. analytical environmental testing arm, Severn Trent Laboratories (STL) to TestAmerica Holdings for 85 million pounds.

Dealings in its newly demerged waste division, Biffa (BIFF.L: Quote, Profile, Research) began early last month.

Shares in the country's second-biggest water firm, which has seen its shares buoyed on speculation that private equity firms have their sights on the utility for a takeover, closed at 1,404 pence on Friday, valuing the group at around 3.3 billion pounds.

Source:

Reuters.co.uk